Employment rose more than expected in April and hiring was much stronger than previously thought in the prior two months, easing concerns belt-tightening in Washington was dealing a big blow to the economy. More from Reuters and the AP.

IN CASE YOU MISSED ITHispanics in Florida

Florida Trend’s coverage this month explores the range of our state’s Hispanic heritage, from descendants of some of the state’s earliest Spanish settlers who still live here, to a largely ignored part of the state’s history, the mission culture that dominated north Florida in the early 1700s, to large concentrations of Hispanic populations in the state today, to a Spanish-American businesswoman in Fort Lauderdale who founded the largest Latina-owned business in America.

Diane Sanchez has a vision of a unified technology community in South Florida becoming the "technology hub of the Americas." Sanchez, chief executive of the Technology Foundation of the Americas, shared her plans with members of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance at its mid-year meeting on Thursday. [Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]

b2 hopes to B the place to be

The new b2 miami downtown is trying to be — or “B,” in the brand’s lingo — a different kind of hotel. Value-conscious but still catering to guests who might want a massage or room service, the hotel on Biscayne Blvd. is carving out a niche between the Courtyards by Marriott and the Hiltons of the world. [Source: Miami Herald]

A gunshot to the head is the state’s recommended method for disposing of invasive Burmese pythons, whose swelling population threatens the Everglades. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission offers no guidance, however, on how to cook the slithery creatures. Chef Kris Wessel came up with two python preparations for a charity dinner this week at The Palms Hotel in Miami Beach: slow-smoked over hickory wood and braised in curry spices, then stuffed in also-invasive Brazilian peppers.